Bears’ offensive line an unfun game of musical chairs

Nam Y. Huh/AP

Bears offensive line coach Chris Morgan knows as much as anyone the benefit of offensive line continuity. He was the Falcons’ line coach in 2016, when they went 11-5 with all five of his linemen starting all 16 games. 

“Nineteen,” Morgan said. 

Indeed, and that’s the point. With Morgan’s starting combination of left tackle Jake Matthews, left guard Andy Levitre, center Alex Mack, right guard Chris Chester and right tackle Ryan Schraeder starting every game, the Falcons went to the Super Bowl. And quarterback Matt Ryan, whose career passer rating was 90.9 heading into that season, was the MVP of the NFL — 38 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 117.1 passer rating. 

It’s not a coincidence. Offensive line play is mostly about chemistry and continuity is the key to chemistry. The Bears haven’t had an offensive line combination start every game since 2013, when Jermon Bushrod, Matt Slauson, Roberto Garza, Kyle Long and Jordan Mills had a streak of 1,011 consecutive snaps together.

The Bears finished second in the NFL in scoring that season (they were 16th, 17th, 21st and 19th the previous four seasons). And their 96.9 passer rating with Jay Cutler and Josh McCown was sixth in the NFL — the Bears had ranked 20th or lower in the previous 13 seasons. 

Achieving absolute continuity — five players starting every game — is rare in the NFL these days. It’s only happened twice since Morgan’s group did it in 2016 — the Colts in 2019 (they went 7-9) and the Rams in 2018 (they lost in the Super Bowl). 

But the Bears aren’t even close. They’re on the opposite end of that spectrum — virtually with a different starting combination every week. With right guard Nate Davis out with a high ankle sprain, the Bears will have a different line combination for the sixth time in seven games when they play the Raiders at Soldier Field on Sunday. 

In fact, in Morgan’s 23 games as the Bears’ offensive line coach, he’s used 14 different starting lineups and 30 different combinations. In 1,034 offensive snaps last season, the longest streak of the same five players together was 130. Out of 380 snaps this season, the longest streak is 74 without a change. 

“It is what it is,” Morgan said. “Whatever it is that day, you deal with it, put your best five out there and you roll. That’s just the way it goes. You control what you can control, Everybody’s got to do it. Next man up.” 

Coaches and players are wired to deal with changes on the offensive line, but the Bears’ lack of continuity is looming as a bigger part of the problem every week. Teams with established quarterbacks can get away with it — as the Packers did with Aaron Rodgers over the years. But with developing quarterbacks and an offense on training wheels, the Bears aren’t likely to make a lot of progress if they can’t find a semblance of continuity on their line. 

“Chemistry is critical,” Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said. “Any time you have turnover you have to deal with it. That’s our league. People get hurt. Seventeen games is a long season. 

“There’s nothing you can do about it. But chemistry is extremely important. I think about some of the years that were the best I’ve ever been around, it’s usually when you have health up front.” 

It could be awhile for the Bears. Jones is on injured reserve with a neck injury, though currently eligible to return. Davis has a high ankle sprain — usually a multiple-week recovery. 

All Morgan and the Bears can do is hope for the best.

“Any time you can get a group together longer, the product should be better,” Morgan said last week. “We’re all right. We’re heading that way.” 

Three days later, Davis left with the injury after 10 snaps against the Vikings. And Whitehair was benched in the fourth quarter. On Thursday, Darnell Wright — the only lineman to start at the same position in all six games – did not practice because of shoulder injury. This could take awhile.